The Seldinger technique, developed by Sven I. Seldinger in the early 1950s, is frequently used for introducing a spring wire guide into a vein or body cavity in order to facilitate catheter placement within a vein or other body cavity. Pursuant to this technique, in its most primitive form, a hollow needle punctures a vein, is inserted and rotated 180.degree.. A spring wire guide is then introduced into the vein or body cavity through the needle. The needle is removed, and the wire guide is held in place. The catheter is then threaded over the spring wire guide.
Blitt et al., in "Central Venous Catheterization Via the External Jugular Vein," Journal of the American Medical Association, Aug. 12, 1974, pp. 817-818, expanded upon the Seldinger technique by initially introducing the needle via a syringe and by then utilizing a J-shaped guide wire to facilitate catheter insertion. In practice, following the insertion of the needle and the drawing of venal blood, the syringe is detached from the needle and the spring or "J" wire guide inserted through the needle.
More recently, several devices have been developed which combine the wire guide and syringe injection functions, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,408 to Nimrod, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,938 to Raulerson. Such devices comprise highly specialized and complex syringes, containing central apertures for the wire guide. The main advantage of such syringes is that they minimize bleeding during the insertion of the wire guide. The present invention, in its preferred embodiment, is directed toward feeding a guide wire into such syringes.
There are several prior art devices for introducing the spring wire guide into the needle or syringe. These devices typically require the use of two hands by the administering medical professional. The required need for two hands makes the introduction of the spring wire guide cumbersome, particularly when used with syringes such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,274,408 and 4,813,938.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,059 to Bickelhaupt discloses such a device which must be supported by both hands of the physician or administering medical professional. As can be seen in FIGS. 5 and 6 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,059, the device is held by two hands and the wire probe is advanced, by the administering medical professional, by shuttling his or her fingers back and forth.
A particular problem which may arise during the introduction of the spring wire guide, sometimes referred to as "J" wire, is that the tip may bend to fold back upon itself. Once in the vein or body cavity, the vein or body cavity tends to keep the wire tip straight, but the tendency for it to assume its set position may hinder the advancement of the wire as it is moved around and turns and bends in the vessel, and in particular as it progresses through the chambers of the heart in cardiac catheterization applications.
In view of the above, it would be desirable to have a spring wire guide feed device which can be utilized with a single hand of the administering professional and which further functions to straighten the spring wire guide as it is fed into a syringe.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a spring wire guide feeding device which facilitates the feeding of the spring wire guide with only one hand by the administering medical professional, and thus freeing the professional's other hand to maneuver or control the introducer needle or syringe.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a spring wire guide feeding device which further provides means for straightening the end or tip of the spring wire guide as it is fed through the device.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a spring wire guide feeding apparatus which is compact and in which the spring wire guide feed tube can be attached to the handle of the feeding device.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a spring wire guide feeding apparatus which minimizes the possibility of contamination.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a spring wire guide feeding apparatus having a removable wire guide straightener.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a spring wire guide feeding apparatus having means for assisting finger access, activation and movement of the spring wire guide, while minimizing friction between the user's finger and the device.
Accordingly, the present invention is thus directed to the combination of a straightening tube and hand-held feed device which supports and feeds a spring wire guide. The device of the present invention is held and supported in a single hand of the administering medical professional. The device of the present invention permits the spring wire guide to be held and advanced between the thumb and forefinger of the administering medical professional, through a straightening bore, and then through the syringe plunger, and into the vein or body cavity.